A Shadow Princess in Endymion's Court
by Alechsa
Summary: Not an Arthur style of story, I liked the title concept. Based on my views of how the Shitennou were captured and including a young OC based on a manga teaser. She actually does little in the story, but I'd like commentary about her all the same. I tried
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

The early morning sun broke through the clouds that had been the remainder of the last night's storm. The rain soaked ground was more mud than grass, as if the storm's winds and heavy waterfall had churned the earth and caused it to begin again. There was no peaceful rainbow to alert the storm was ended, however. It was as if the storm were not a true new beginning, but a terrible omen of future events.

The servants of the royal castle had begun their duties hours ago, preparing the breakfast hall and awakening the pages and squires so that they could, in turn, wake the nobles and knights. The scent of broths and still baking breads filled the hallways as the sunlight peeked through the windows and into the complaining eyes of the few castle dwellers who had not heeded the calls to awake yet.

The guardians of Prince Endymion, the heir to the throne, were called the Shitennou, the Four Holy Kings. Their leader, Kunzite, had been awake before even the servants, and for reasons no one had yet been able to discern, he had been out for most of the night as well. Nephrite had also been up early, but that came as no surprise to any members of the court, he was a stargazer by nature and always went to bed late and awoke early. Zoisite, the youngest of the four men had awoken promptly when his pages knocked and left the washing bowl on his table. Jedite, however, had not awoken even when his pages tried verbally calling to him 30 minutes later. After another hour had passed, he made his presence known in the halls, with a neatly pressed uniform, but bed-rumpled hair that looked as if it had never been combed in his life.

This morning, the usual meeting of the four men with their prince in a private hall had become a little more crowded. Somber eyes the color of the deep ocean that was less than a mile to the south of the palace grounds peered out over the men from a ragged blanket. Soft sounds of curiosity came from the tiny mouth as the prince petted the stranger's rosy cheeks, eliciting a smile from the man as tiny fingers reached out and grabbed for his hand.

"Where did you find her, Kunzite?" Zoisite finally asked, breaking the nearly tense silence. "She's adorable"

The stoic ice king remained silent, keeping his sky blue eyes focused on their prince as he held the tiny ward Kunzite had brought in from the storm the previous night. He'd brought the baby girl with him to the hall, explaining only that he was adopting the child to raise her as a lady of the court, though in not as many words. Kunzite never spoke much beyond what needed to be said. No one questioned it so far, even to find out if she had the bloodline to qualify for ladyship status.

"What's her name? Or did she not come with one?" Nephrite asked, raising a slim chocolate colored eyebrow.

"She has a name." Kunzite replied, arms crossed. The baby girl giggled and fussed a bit in Endymion's arms.

"Well?" Jedite, ever impatient, demanded clarification.

"Alexandrite." The child fell silent as her name was spoken. The other four men in the room followed suit.

"That's a dangerous name for a child." Zoisite finally said. "That gemstone is full of shadows and changes. It never shows its true face to the sun"

Kunzite barely shrugged in response. "It's her name"

"We'll call her Alexia for a nickname. So she doesn't get teased." Zoisite said with a nod, reaching over to the baby and touching her short blonde hair. Kunzite nodded in agreement. "She's such a sweet little girl, I wonder who her mother was"

The baby broke out in a sudden wail, the cry had a disturbing quality that seemed to unnerve Nephrite. Jedite suddenly excused himself suspiciously with no real reason spoken, and Nephrite followed him quickly without a word.

"I think they're a little frightened of your new ward, Kunzite." Endymion teased lightly with a serious expression, handing the baby back to the silver haired lesser king before walking out. "I hope they don't have any good reasons for it." The prince warned over his shoulder before closing the door.


	2. Chapter 1

Three years later, things remained peaceful within the castle walls, but in the outside world, rumors flew of impending war. The Silver Alliance of the Nine Planets was crumbling, and no one knew the exact cause. The senshi guardians of the Outer Planets had begun to become conceited in their power and successes, especially Princess Uranus, and they began to believe they did not need the assistance of the Inner System princesses.

The princess of Saturn's power had been sleeping her entire young life, but after her 16th birthday, she had begun to have disturbing nightmares of a force swallowing the entire star system and corrupting the planets to lifeless rocks surrounded in poison gas. The idea of this outcome had frightened many people, but the Outers had sworn they would keep it out, so the calm had quickly returned to the public. For those burdened with crowns on their heads, however, worries still existed. What if the two soldiers were not enough? Pluto could only do so much to assist and Saturn had yet to awaken her powers, and if she did, there were legends that she herself would destroy them all.

Earthians had begun clamoring for their own solution. The other planets had soldier princesses to guard them with special powers. Earth had a single prince with four guardians, and none of them had abilities to match those of the sailor-suited senshi. The humans of earth saw themselves as helpless, and grew jealous of the benefits the other planets had. To make matters worse, the Lunarians themselves who lived on Earth's moon had a special tool that gave their people extra long lives full of health and peace. Sparks of unrest were beginning to fan into full flames. Factions of insurgents had begun to question Endymion's tactics of peaceful co-existance, stating that there could be no chance of that so long as the other civilizations selfishly refused to teach Earth how to train senshi and allow them the powerful gifts of the ginzuishou.

Endymion tried to let the factions exist to prevent being called a 'traitor to humanity', so long as they did not exercise their protests violently. Those who did were promptly arrested and, if they had taken lives, usually beheaded to teach the rest a lesson not to attempt to spark a war over petty jealousies. The planets with senshi guarded them, why did they need senshi of their own? As for desiring the ginzuishou, that was foolish, the power was rumored to only be wieldable by the goddess of the moon herself, so what good would it do Earth to possess the gem? Thoughts like this had turned most of the factions against not only the Silver Alliance, but Prince Endymion himself. They were rallying to destroy his court and make war on the entire star system, regardless of the immense power the other eight planets and their moons held.

The palace grounds were kept under heavy security, no strange faces were allowed to enter without leaving all weapons or devices that could be used as a weapon at the gatehouse. It wasn't just for his own safety that Endymion set up the regulations, he had innocent lives to protect within those walls, people who were loyal to him and shared his beliefs that the denizens of the other worlds were not evil, selfish beings. There was also Kunzite's adopted ward and the other children of the court to think of, all too young to be able to form their own opinions about the situation yet. If the castle fell, they would be slaughtered or brainwashed to fight against their own families. He shuddered at the consequences if they happened to discover what lurked in the blood of the youngest of the children.

'Lady Alexia' had grown to be a very precocious and abnormal child in her two years of growth, taking to wrestling with the older boys in mud puddles and climbing trees rather than study her early lessons of ladyship. Her satin dresses were constantly in need of mending and she lost an average of three slippers a day, much to the chagrin of her assigned servants. The Prince and Kunzite had never reprimanded her for her behaviors, for they knew there was a perfectly valid reason the girl had an instinct to fight and explore. Her mother had been a soldier from one of those distant planets, who was too needed in her duties protecting her princess to raise a baby. In fact, Kunzite had adopted her for a good reason, but only he and Endymion knew it.

As the girl grew older, Jedite's dislike of her seemed to grow as well. No one had been able to discern why he was upset over the existence of the girl, some thought it was jealousy that the commanders were both enthralled with her care instead of training.

Indeed, most of the castle seemed to be swooning over the pretty child and her laughter, even the young squires who had never shown much interest in spending time with younger children. Nephrite had gotten over his initial worry over the child and begun teaching her how to read, and the names of the constellations. Zoisite taught her how to use the mechanics of Nephrite's telescopes and basic physics using the simple machines of the era. Her adoptive father taught her to fight even at her young age, to 'work out some of her destructive energies'. Endymion, on the other hand, had allowed and encouraged her wild side and put her on his favorite, fastest horse to teach her to ride. It went… less than smoothly.

The horse had seemed to like the girl just as much as any other denizen of the castle did. However, he had a wild streak, like her, and suddenly took off in a burst of speed, jumping the corral fencing and tearing across the meadow. It only went a few dozen yards before turning and returning to his master's side as calmly as he had begun the ride, shaking his mane in what could be deciphered as a laugh. Alexia had been anything but upset by the speedy and unplanned adventure, she demanded to be allowed out again as soon as Kunzite lifted her off the horse with such haste and worry, one would think it was about to bite her. She protested immediately when he refused and told her to go inside for the day.

"I don't wanna!" she squirmed and thrashed in his arms, she worked her way loose and dropped to her feet, straightening her dress and pouting with a slight stomp of her foot. Her protests fell on deaf ears, Kunzite picked her back up and carried her inside.

"You obviously need a nap, young lady." he sighed bitterly.

"She's not a lady, she's a demon in human skin…" Jedite muttered to himself after his commander passed out of hearing range.

Late into that night, after the slivered crescent moon had set, the entire castle was quiet and dark. Nephrite was still awake, studying what he deemed to be an ill omen, the sun had been overactive during the dusk hours, as if a force was causing it to writhe in pain. A streak of light had passed the sky a few hours later, unnoticed by most of those who had not yet gone to bed. Endymion and Nephrite had been among the few who hadn't been so naïve, and that was why Nephrite had stayed up tonight, studying the stars for any hints of what was to come.

An ominous shadow passed silently over the open doorway of his observatory room as Nephrite was consulting a large book full of sketches of star positions and odd symbols.

"Who's there!" Nephrite snapped, sounding more gruff than his usual demeanor to cover up his surprise and fear.

Light, dangerous laughter came from just inside of the dark room. "You're so jumpy and restless, Nephrite. You should sleep, tomorrow's a big day"

"Jedite?" Nephrite blinked in disbelief and sighed. "Shouldn't you be asleep yourself?" The older man frowned to himself, what was special about tomorrow? No one was having a birthday, there were no balls planned for at least a month…

There was an odd glow in the whites of Jedite's cold blue-steel eyes. "I'm not tired. I thought I'd patrol the hallways, something feels off in the air"

"Fancy that, I'd never suspect you out of the four of us to be upset at something in the air. I would have figured Zoisite to turn superstitious before you." Nephrite narrowed his eyes to near slits.

Jedite's behavior was always a little 'off', he was probably the least stable of the Shitennou. Nephrite and Endymion were constantly in agreement that there was a darkness in Jedite's soul, there was a constant glint to his eye that had begun to become more apparent ever since Alexandrite had come to the castle. Most had passed it off as jealousy, but some of their inner circle had begun to suspect worse of Jedite.

"Be careful, Nephrite… the nights are getting longer and colder." Jedite smirked mysteriously and headed off into the hallway and towards the main entryways.

Where was he going so late at night? It wasn't unlawful for the Shitennou to leave the castle, even for days at a time, but it was certainly suspicious to do so when it was long after midnight. Nephrite made a note to himself in the back of his mind to alert Kunzite and Endymion about the odd occurances of the night when they awoke, and returned to his studies.


	3. Chapter 2

That morning, Jedite was nowhere to be found in the castle or the surrounding meadows and villages, searches went as far as the ocean and the mountains. If Jedite was in the area, he was hiding, and whatever his reasons, they more than likely were not honorable. The unstable Shitennou had gone AWOL right in the middle of a civil war. This would be less than helpful for the Prince if one of his own guardians had switched sides. Word went out through a private grapevine that if any sighting was made of Jedite, the guards of the area were to be contacted and he was to be dragged unceremoniously back to the castle immediately.

Alexandrite was calmer than usual during the day, she'd been exhausted by night terrors and had constantly woken up crying in a cold sweat throughout the entire night. She spent the morning yawning and rubbing her eyes instead of her usual uncontrollable antics. She was napping under an oak tree with Zoisite sitting nearby as a guard. Her sleep was anything but peaceful, as the night terrors had followed her out into the sunlight. Zoisite looked over at her occasionally, frowning with concern for the child's health. Most people who slept that fitfully were beginning to become feverish and ill. He put a hand on the girl's forehead when she managed to settle for a moment. Her forehead was ice cold.

"Perhaps we should move her inside for the day?" Kunzite suggested coolly as Zoisite remove his hand from the girl's forehead with a deeper frown than he'd worn before checking her temperature. "If she's ill, a healer will need to see her before it becomes worse"

Zoisite shook his head with a puzzled look on his face. "That's just it, Kunzite, she isn't sick. She doesn't have a fever and she's –not- in a cold sweat"

Kunzite frowned over this information as Nephrite finally emerged from the castle, looking as if he hadn't slept for days. "How do the skies look?" he asked the astronomer offhandedly, it was their usual greeting when Nephrite had been locked away in his observatory room.

"Restless. There's going to be trouble, very soon. That streak of light was no comet, it came from the Sol star itself. The stars are fearful." Nephrite's voice was monotone from lack of sleep and being put under extreme duress. "This war is no longer a possible future. It is about to begin"

"Dammit." Zoisite snarled under his breath. "Where the hell is Jedite? If his absence is contributing to this, I'll kill him myself"

"Zoisite, be still, your rashness will be the end of you one day." Kunzite ordered sternly, glowering at his student.

"There are rumors of his sighting already." Endymion interjected, walking up to the grouping. "A man looking like him, but in a different uniform, has been seen in a city far off from here"

The group remained silent for a long period of time as Zoisite stroked the sleeping girl's hair absently. She'd begun another fit and the young man had slipped over to hold her gently so she wouldn't hurt herself against the tree roots.

"…. Do…. you think he's defected?" the young blonde man finally asked the question that had been weighing on their minds through the silent moment.

"Possibly. I want any guards that can be spared to be sent out to that city to find him. Now." Endymion frowned and headed back to the castle.

The three remaining Shitennou stayed behind, each sharing a look of concern. One of them would have to go with the guards, to ensure there was someone present who was skilled enough to take Jedite down and keep him suppressed during the journey back to sentencing for his abandonment of his post. Jedite was the lowest ranked of the four, but that didn't mean he couldn't easily take down many soldiers with basic martial arts and weaponry skills. They were the absolute elites and had been chosen as the bodyguards of the Prince because of it.

"I'll go." Kunzite finally volunteered.

"You will not!" Zoisite retorted. "You can't leave Alexia here while she's having these fits, and you're sure as hell not going to drag her along"

"I'll go then." Nephrite offered. "You can't leave either, Zoisite, she'll only calm down when she's in your arms. I've done what I can for the moment as far as determining the threats, and am unneeded"

Kunzite nodded, accepting Nephrite's voluntary suggestion. "Be careful. He's always been a little disturbed and he's well known for his cunning. He could have traps set up if he's truly betrayed us"

Nephrite nodded solemnly and headed off to the castle to pack for his journey. He knew Jedite was a master of his environment, he could set perfect traps that were meant for easy capture, or he could kill you with them if he believed you were a dangerous threat. If Jedite really left of his own will and had no intent to return, he would be setting killing traps for any of Endymion's men, because he'd know they'd be coming.

Chrysol City wasn't so much a city as a large town. There was a manor for the noble in charge of the area beneath the royal family, but it was hardly a castle. The family in charge here had been friendly with the royal family for generations, and sent extremely valuable gifts to Endymion's naming ceremony. They had constantly made it obvious that they wished their eldest daughter, Beryl, to be betrothed to him. They'd been upset to discover the Prince had other ideas, but they'd made no moves to lead anyone to believe their loyalties had suffered from the choice. That Jedite would find any substantial group of disloyals here and join them, was a fact that Nephrite found very hard to swallow.

Still, the man stayed wary as he patrolled the streets, keeping an eye out for anyone who watched him a little too long, or made it a little too obvious that they were trying –not- to look at him. There were a few more suspicious people than he would have liked to notice for a town of this size… it didn't add up to the usual ruffians and pickpockets. He was getting a bad feeling, but kept with his training and reaffirmed their first impressions by moving on and pretending he took them to be regular bandits who wouldn't possibly attempt to steal from a Shitennou. He kept a hand at his ceremonial sword, just in case someone decided to get brave, but kept his eyes forward, heading towards the larger of the taverns in town.

When he entered, the usual chatter instantly fell to a silence as if the people were all puppets who'd all had their strings cut deftly in a single swipe of a sword. More than half of them were staring quite hostilely at Nephrite, the rest were making it a point to avert their eyes and find something new to be interested in the moment they saw the marks on his uniform. All of this meant one thing to Nephrite. Jedite was here. They'd have no reason to react this way to a Shitennou if he wasn't.

The owner of the tavern frowned at Nephrite as the middle member of the Shitennou came up to him with a serious expression.

"I have reason to believe a companion of mine is here. I don't suppose anyone has seen him?" the earthy brown of Nephrite's eyes was darkened by the temper he held back.

The slightly portly man remained silent, but a serving girl spoke up after a tense moment. "Do you mean the silver tongued blond man"

Nephrite smiled internally. Of course, the women would be the first to know Jedite was in town. He had his weaknesses, after all. "If he was wearing a uniform like mine"

The young girl nodded enthusiastically with a look in her eyes Nephrite knew far too well. "He was such a gentleman…" she paused with a slight pout. "Such a shame he was only here for one night on his way to the castle"

"The… castle?" Nephrite froze.

"Yes." The young girl nodded again. "I think he said something about a meeting with the young lady of the manor." Of course the girl saw nothing wrong with giving that information away, how could telling one member of the Shitennou where another was be a bad thing?

Nephrite excused himself after giving the girl a small gold coin. He'd have paid her more, if he had been certain that the man behind the bar wasn't going to steal it from her before the night was over. The young astronomer walked out into the night and stared up at the sky, studying the stars.

"The night bodes ill. I'm beginning to worry about the safety of Endymion-dono and his loyals…" he muttered to himself, eyes darkening as his pupils widened to take in all the starlight. The moon was turning full, and there were signs of an eclipse occurring within a few nights. His previous astronomical studies had not shown him any signs of a lunar eclipse before tonight, another bad sign. He took a deep breath and began walking towards the Chrysol Manor.


End file.
